


Never apologize for burning too brightly or collapsing into yourself

by TaylorMay1912



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Additional scenes might follow, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Castiel/Dean Winchester First Kiss, Coda, Dean Winchester Keeps Miracle the Dog, Established Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, F/M, Fix-It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Jack Kline as God, M/M, Minor Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester, POV Dean Winchester, Post-Episode: s15e19 Inherit the Earth, Season/Series 15, Season/Series 15 Spoilers, The real ending was stupid so this is the ending ta-da, if you ask nicely
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-28
Updated: 2020-11-28
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:07:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27750496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TaylorMay1912/pseuds/TaylorMay1912
Summary: Oh look, it's yet another Season 15 fix-it fic.This is from the ending of Episode 19 Inherit the Earth. Please know, I haven't actually seen the episode yet, or the finale, but I know what happens from Twitter and from reading episode summaries.If you ask nicely, I might continue this with cute little fluffy things involving Dean, Cas and Miracle. Sam and Eileen might make appearances. Maybe even Jack and a few others.Enjoy.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Eileen Leahy/Sam Winchester
Comments: 14
Kudos: 142





	Never apologize for burning too brightly or collapsing into yourself

“I’ll be in every drop of falling rain, every speck of dust that the wind blows, and in the sand, in the rocks, and the sea.” Jack smiled.

“Hell of a time to bail. You got a lot of people counting on you, people with questions,” _Like me,_ Dean thought, and he noticed Jack’s smile twitch. “They’re going to need answers.”

“And those answers will be in each of them,” Jack paused and glanced between the brothers. “Including yourselves,” He spoke with a quiet conviction. Dean shared a curious look at Sam, who avoided his brother’s gaze. “People don’t need to pray to me, or sacrifice to me. They just need to know that I’m already a part of them and to trust in that.” Jack looked down at his own hands, tensing them into fists before letting them relax. “I won’t be hands-on. Chuck put himself into the story. That was his mistake. But I learned from you and my mother,” He brought his gaze back to Dean, a hard look in his eyes. “Castiel...” Dean’s heart dropped to his stomach at the sound of his best friend’s name. “When people have to be their best, they can be. And that’s what to believe in.” He shrugged.

“Jack...” Dean couldn’t bring himself to hide his broken voice. “Can...is he...do you know if he’s...?” The boy gave the hunter a kind smile, reaching up and squeezing his shoulder. The same one Cas left his mark on, all those years ago and just yesterday.

“You two should head on home. I believe there’ll be some people waiting there to celebrate with you.” Dean blinked away tears and pressed a kiss to the boy’s head as Jack pulled him in for a gentle hug. “Goodbye, Dean.” Jack reached out for Sam next, pulling the taller hunter in for a hug too. “Goodbye, Sam.”

“See ya, Jack.” Sam had tears pooling from his eyes, and he nodded with a smile.

One moment, Jack was right in front of them, then the sunshine broke through the clouds, and he disappeared with the sun’s rays. The hunters stood there in shock, and let themselves breathe. Dean thought the air felt clearer than he remembered. Lighter. A loud bark pulled him out of his reverie, and he felt a soft nudging down at his leg. Dean glanced down to see Miracle staring back up at him.

“Hey, boy,” He leant down, and Miracle jumped up right into Dean’s arms. “You wanna come home?”

“Dean, he probably has owners,” Sam sounded as tired as Dean felt. The older hunter glanced around and didn’t find anyone running to claim the dog.

“Come on, Sammy. He doesn’t have a name-tag, and besides, you always wanted a dog, remember?” He ruffled the puppy’s head, and Sam let out a sigh.

“Sure, Dean. Let’s go home.” He started walking towards the passenger side of the Impala.

“Let’s go see what Jack meant, buddy,” Dean placed Miracle carefully into the backseat of the car, where he curled up into a ball, his tail wagging so hard, it was hitting him in the face. Dean chuckled.

***********

Dean was thrumming with nervous energy as they pulled up into the Bunker, with the added extras of some toys, food bowls and kibble for Miracle. Sam noticed Dean’s leg twitching, and he smiled.

“You okay there, Dean?”

“Yeah, ‘m fine, just really eager to see what Jack left us,” He was trying so hard to control his thoughts. Just because _Chuck_ could pull angels from the Empty, that’s doesn’t necessarily mean...does it? Dean climbed out of the car and threw open the backseat door. Miracle jumped down and lingered near Dean’s legs, his new dog collar and name tag swinging proudly from his neck.

“I think he’s already decided who his favourite is,” Sam huffed, arms full of Miracle's stuff as they walked slowly to the door. Dean gave Sam a tired smile.

“Easy enough to do, brother. I’m the better-looking one,” There was no edge to his voice. He was just _exhausted_ from everything. As they made their way to the War Room, Dean could hear scuffling. He and Sam froze, sharing a look, before pulling out their guns. Sam silently gestured for Dean to get behind him as he placed Miracle's things on the ground, and Dean scooped Miracle up into one arm. Miracle let out a small noise of surprise, so Dean hushed him quietly.

They rounded the corner. Before Dean could even process what he was seeing, there was a female throwing her arms around his brother, and Sam was laughing, and she was too. _Eileen._ Dean watched as Sam spun her around. She wrapped her legs around Sam’s hips and pressed a kiss to Sam’s cheeks and then his lips. Dean averted his gaze. He’s happy for Sam. He is, but public displays of affection were things he sometimes got queasy over. Miracle squirmed in Dean’s arm, so he gently placed the dog on the ground, and watched as he bolted to the other side of the table. Miracle let out a happy bark as he jumped up onto the legs of...

“ _Cas_?” Dean breathed. The angel was standing there as if he had never left, a shy smile painted on his face as he gave Miracle a friendly pat on the head. His eyes met Dean’s, and his face became more relaxed.

“Hello, Dean.” At the sound of Castiel’s voice, Dean’s restraint crumbled completely. He marched right over to Cas, who was looking increasingly nervous with each step. “Dean, I’m sorry for what-“

“Don’t,” Dean warned, before pulling him into what would normally be a bone-crushing hug. He brought his lips to Cas’ ear. “Don’t you _ever_ apologise for your feelings, Cas. God,” The tears were running down his face now. “I thought you were gone. I thought I’d never-“

“I’m here, Dean. I’ll always be here for you,” Cas returned the hug, rubbing one hand soothingly on the hunter’s back as he ran his other hand through Dean’s hair. The affection was almost too much, and Dean couldn’t help the hitch in his throat as a small whine escaped. He pulled back to see Cas’ face shining with tears as well.

“Well, look at us. What a coupla’ saps,” He breathed out, bringing his hand to trap Cas’ tears on his fingers. The smile on Cas’ face grew wider, as he mirrored his hunter's movements.

“I think we’re allowed to be a couple of saps. At least for a while,” Dean cracked a grin.

“You’re right. You’re always right,” He glanced down at Cas’ backwards tie, to try and quell the emotional overflow happening in his heart. “I gotta tell you something, and if I don’t say it right now, I’m going to probably collapse in on myself and nobody wants to see that, least of all, you,” Dean cracked a small smile at the curious head tilt Cas gave him. “When you...” He took in a deep breath.

“When you told me you loved me, I know I froze,” He felt Cas do just that in his arms, and was quick to rub his hand into the angel’s shoulder to get him to relax. “I froze because...well, I still didn’t want to believe it. I still wanted to refuse that an angel, one of the only _good_ angels in the universe, was in love with little old me. I still clung to every negative thing you said I saw myself as. But slowly, it...those walls I firmly hid behind were cracking and breaking. As soon as Jack absorbed Chuck’s power, and free will was finally, _finally_ ours...those walls were _gone_ ,” Dean felt his hands shake, so he closed his eyes. “I thought those walls were mine, but they were Chuck’s. He was...he silenced me. Used the figure of my dad and others to strike fear in my heart over who I loved, what I felt for you.” He drew in a deep breath and opened his eyes to see Cas’ ever-steady gaze. “And he tried to erase you, but Jack...” Cas licked his bottom lip before he spoke.

“He put the Empty to sleep and brought me back. To you,” He brought a gentle hand to Dean’s cheek, and the hunter leaned into the touch. “For you.”

“I love you.” It was so simple. Three little words. They fell out of his mouth before he barely thought them, but he didn’t want to grab them and swallow them back down. It was the moment he truly knew he was free. Nothing was holding him back anymore, no longer tied down by these little whispers of doubt and no longer agonising over why he couldn’t just reach out and take what he wanted.

“Dean...” Cas looked almost luminescent, and Dean pressed his forehead against the angel’s.

“You said the one thing you want was something you can’t have,” He murmured. “But sweetheart, you always had it. You _always_ had me. I’ve loved you for so long, Cas, but I just couldn’t...”

“Hush,” Cas whispered. “I know. I know, beloved. I know you.” Dean felt another small whine slip from his mouth at the term of endearment, and he finally closed the distance between their lips.

Kissing Cas, it turns out, could be akin to kissing the stars. Hot spikes of warmth pressed into Dean’s mouth, like sparks. He could taste lightning and the crisp, clean flavour of freshly-fallen snow. All around him, he could smell _Castiel_ and it made him melt into the angel.

There was a loud coughing sound from behind them. _Oh, shit. Right_. Dean pulled away from Cas, still keeping his arms firmly around his angel, to give his brother a shit-eating grin. Both Sam and Eileen were staring at him with raised eyebrows, but interestingly, neither one looked particularly surprised.

“So...” Sam looked pointedly at Cas, then back at Dean, then back to Cas, before finally returning to Dean. “You and Cas, huh?” Dean beamed.

“Me ‘n’ Cas,”

“Fucking finally.” Sam heaved out a heavy sigh of relief.


End file.
